The Science of Retail Displays

Attention spans are shorter and shorter these days. People are constantly bombarded by advertising coming from all sorts of directions. There’s social media, all sorts of news media, billboards and other advertising conduits all vying for the consumer’s attention. But how do you get noticed and what works and what doesn’t. There are numerous strategies out there in designing and building an effective marketing campaign. Using in-store retail displays and POP displays (point of purchase displays) is one effective strategy. In this article we provide you with more affective ideas and discuss the science of retail displays.

Do you have a central unifying theme?

Do you have an identifiable theme that unifies your merchandise? Creating bold and daring displays can really get your brand noticed, but sometimes this can backfire. If your displays are creative and eye catching but they look completely different than your product packaging then this could make your branding look confusing and awkward.

What about in store lighting? Does your display work well with the lighting of the store? Depending on what colors you choose to use in your design some may work better or worse with the store’s lighting. Blending your overall theme with the store’s lighting as well as the look and feel of your merchandise can be tricky but getting this right will not only be more attention grabbing but will help your potential customers remember your brand in the long run.

Small changes can make big differences

What some people don’t think about is how small changes can make a big difference. Depending on store traffic flows and the volume of people that visit a store it’s important to recognize that minimal changes can have a big impact on your bottom line. If for example ten people visit a store each month and a small design change increases purchasing by one percent then this of course has little to no effect on your bottom line. However, if a store’s volume is in the thousands then a small design change can have a large impact. To better understand this concept and how to calculate see this article on conversion rate calculations. This may seem obvious but the important thing to understand here is that paying attention to the details when designing your in store display is crucial because in high volume store environments small design changes can have very meaningful impacts. Additionally, don’t forget about knock-on effects. If you’re advertising through social media or other mediums your retail conversion rates from your in store displays might fluctuate. Sometimes it’s difficult to understand if the design of your in store displays increased your conversion or your growing social media presence.

Try and measure as many variables as possible to really understand how your conversion rates vary over time. Taking this more scientific approach may reveal things you haven’t considered before.